Overcome
by SummerStarWatcher
Summary: Scorpius longs to set his family's past behind him and move on, but one girl, it seems, will always judge him by the actions of his father. At her father's unintended urging, Rose engages Scorpius in a battle for scores that will become about so much more
1. Chapter 1

Draco Malfoy was a coward.

That much Scorpius knew. His father was a coward, a sneak, a liar, and nothing anyone said or did would convince him otherwise.

Oh, his father might tell him grand stories of the war, all altered slightly from reality, but Scorpius was gifted with incredible perception, and so he knew. He could learn what was in a person's mind and heart, not just the words they uttered. So he knew that when Draco spoke contemptuously of Harry Potter, it was not the hero he hated. It was himself.

Because indeed, Harry was the antithesis of all Draco was and all he had ever learned; a pinnacle of strength and courage. And for that, Draco despised him.

But Scorpius was not so close-minded and jealous as his father. He had read his history books and watched his father carefully, so when the time came down to it, he knew what he would choose. He would not be like his father and grandfather, easily swayed by false promises of power and terrified into subservience and inaction. No, he would be like Harry Potter, and Ron and Hermione Weasley, and the rest of the Order of the Phoenix. He would be strong and loyal and righteous and intelligent, willing to fight for what he believed in.

Which is how he ended up sitting on a stool in front of all Hogwarts, absolutely petrified, with the sorting hat muttering in his mind.

"_Talent, yes, much talent here. And great ambition. Shall I put you in Slytherin, then, like the rest of your family? Ah, no, I see the urge to be different, to turn a page, start a new chapter… Good boy. And that courage and strength, you could do well in Gryffindor… But no, with such a brilliant mind there's really only one place for you. You'd better be in RAVENCLAW!"_ The last word was shouted to the entire school.

The table on the center left burst into applause. Scorpius sighed, relieved not to be charged with the burden of carrying on his family's legacy. His father's reaction was not to be looked forward to, but Scorpius couldn't bring himself to care, not right then. Not with the cheers in his ears, not with the relief of the trial being over, not with the excitement of the whole school year in front of him. Taking a seat at the blue and bronze decked table, Scorpius grinned widely as he was clapped on the back.

No one seemed to care that he was the son and grandson of snakes, of traitors who betrayed the entire wizarding world. No one seemed even the least bit put off. Scorpius felt hope rise within him that he would never be judged by the actions of his family, that his history could be put behind and never mentioned again. He could forge his own way here, could establish a new legacy for the name Malfoy…

These thoughts in mind, he turned his attention to those who had yet to be sorted.

"Potter, Albus!"

As this name was called, a hush fell over the great hall.

This was the famous Harry Potter's second son.

Scorpius paid particular interest to him, much like everyone else present. Everyone seemed to be looking at the first year, who walked nervously up to be sorted. Even though his place in Gryffindor must surely be guaranteed, Scorpius still read a decent amount of uncertainty in the boy's features, as though he was worried he might end up in the 'wrong' house. He sat on the stool with a pained look, clearly very worried about the outcome.

Long moments passed, and it seemed like the whole school was holding its breath.

Then—

"GRYFFINDOR!"

A huge thundering of applause broke out at the red and gold covered table, and an obviously much relieved Albus went to join his older brother and cousins. Scorpius felt a tiny twinge of jealousy as he watched Albus greeted by his enormous family and numerous friends, wondering what it would be like to be so popular and generally well-liked, even before anyone really knew you. Idle musings, of course, as no one knew of Scorpius except as his father's son, so he'd never know the feeling. But still, he couldn't help but wonder.

After that, Scorpius let his mind drift, not paying very much attention to the Sortings not even to note who was Sorted into his own house. The optimistic feeling he was having earlier was beginning to fade away, replaced with a kind of resigned drudgery.

At least, until a pretty red-haired girl was called up.

This was Rose Weasley, daughter of Harry Potter's equally as famous friends, Ron and Hermione Weasley. She appeared to be just as nervous as her cousin, but there was something different about her, Scorpius was interested to note.

Something in the way she held herself, shoulders back and head up, that gave her a proud, fearless look, despite her timid steps up to the Sorting Hat. With her face turned up she seemed to absolutely glow in the warm candlelight, glints off her auburn hair forming a halo all around her face, giving her quite the angelic look.

But it was more than that.

She had an inner light, a core of shining steel that Scorpius could tell rendered her the most stubborn and yet the most wonderful girl he had ever, or would ever, meet.

So captured by her was he that when to Sorting Hat shouted out it's choice, he jumped.

"RAVENCLAW!"

Oh.

That was his house.

Scorpius was unsure whether the feeling in his stomach was nervousness or excitement, but whatever it was it fizzed and intensified as he realized the only open seat left at the Ravenclaw table was right next to him. She would have to sit next to him, talk to him, probably brush up against him once or twice…

He gulped.

Why was he having this reaction to her? There shouldn't have been anything special about her, nothing that should cause emotions sucj as these to rise within him. And yet, as she drew nearer, he couldn't help but wish that he'd make a good impression on her.

That she wouldn't see him and immediately think of his father.

That she wouldn't treat him like scum because of who his family was.

That she might even come to like him, someday.

Now he saw it: this was his chance. This was his chance to break out of his family's less than admirable pattern, to join to shining life of heroes like the Potters and the Weasleys and be judged for who he was, for what he did, rather than who he was related to. All he had to do was become friends with this vibrant girl, which surely would be no hardship. Hope filled his chest, hope for a brighter future and his family's tainted past.

She sat down next to him, bringing the smell of a fresh breeze with her. She shook her hair back and looked around at her new classmates, taking time to really _notice_ all of them.

At last she got to Scorpius.

She looked at him, and he gazed at her, hope still shining out of his face.

"Hello," he said quietly, after a moment had passed.

She looked at him for another moment, then replied coolly, "You're Scorpius Malfoy."

His heart sank. It was a statement, not a question, but he still responded with a reluctant affirmation. "Yes, I am."

"I've heard about your father. My dad told me to beat you on every test." She turned away from him, immediately becoming engaged in a conversation on her other side.

Shocked at this ultimate dismissal, Scorpius gaped after her. As his brain caught up with his heart and he processed what had happened, anger swelled up inside him and eclipsed to hurt and broken hope.

How dare she just reject him like that? How dare she judge him based only on his family and not on himself at all? Righteous indignation threatened to overcome him.

And then his resolve solidified. If she could snub him, he could do the same to her. She was supposed to beat him on every test? He would beat her instead. She might already be popular and well liked and famous, but he could make himself just as popular.

Her opinions would not dictate his future.

XXXX

So, there it is. My second ever HP fic.

I haven't quite yet decided how I'm going to do this story, so I thought I'd give you guys a chance for input. Would you rather it be just Scorpius's perspective, or should I alternate with Rose's POV? I've done stories both ways, and I really can't decide here. Tell me in a review, and I'll take your opinion into account when I decide.

The other thing about this story is it may not update very often. Definitely not as often as I'd like, but I'm still in school and things get crazy... apology in advance. But stick with the story and I promise it'll eventually end. :)

~Star


	2. Chapter 2

**Rose's POV**

Rose found it interesting, sometimes, how different she was from her cousins. They were all red-headed and wild and given to loud jokes and raucous laughter, while she was quieter, more solemn, feet firmly on the ground. It was her job to be the level headed one of the families, the one who cared for and looked after everyone else when they got into trouble.

She got to be the one to clean up the messes, the one to solve the problems, the one to make sense in a world of crazy and nonsensical kids.

That role would only grow stronger now she started school, Rose knew. She heaved a sigh.

But still. Hogwarts! She was finally going! After years of waiting and watching her cousins go off to school and hearing all the stories, she finally got to join in all the fun!

Today, nothing could get her down.

Ashe spent the entire train ride with the majority of her extended family, filling up two compartments with Exploding Snap and wizard chess and Gobstones and spilling out into the corridor as people moved between the compartments. It was just like any Weasley family gathering, and it certainly helped put Rose at ease. She didn't have to be a nervous little first year, all alone and struggling to find her way. No, she had almost her entire family to help her get into the swing of things, as her Grandma Jean would say.

It felt great.

When they reached the castle, Rose, Albus and Alice were greeted warmly by Hagrid, who ushered them excitedly down to the little boats. Having heard of this before, the trio had extraordinarily high expectations.

They were not let down.

The view from the lake was spectacular, causing the jaws of all the first years to drop.

But Rose was more interested in people than things, so after taking a moment to appreciate the landscape, she turned her gaze back to the other first years in her boat.

There was Albus, her favorite of all her many relatives. Dark-haired and quiet, he was the most similar to Rose herself, though he still liked pulling pranks with his older brother and cousins. Still, Albus was more simply _good_ than he realized. Rose was one of the few who knew how worried he was about getting put into Slytherin, but she knew there was no basis for that fear. With his heart, there would be no way for him to be in any house but Gryffindor, along with all their other family and friends at Hogwarts.

Speaking of friends, the other girl in the boat was a familiar face too. She was Alice Longbottom, daughter of Uncle Neville and Aunty Luna, and the whole family had been adopted into the extended Weasley family. Alice had inherited her mother's shining hair and her father's facial structure, her mother's eccentricities and her father's bravery and both her parents' intelligence. With those kind of genetics, there was no way she would not be Sorted into Ravenclaw, Rose was certain. Alice was Rose's second favorite relative, after Albus, of course.

The third person in the boat was not one of the Weasley family. Sandy colored hair and a thin, sharp nosed face, he hadn't spoken a word to them. Rose didn't know his name, hadn't seen him before he got into the boat with them.

Curious.

Why would he get into a boat with strangers? Why didn't he ride with his companions from the train?

Rose decided he was probably destined for Gryffindor, because his face looked so open and honest, and he was brave enough to join a group of strangers who obviously knew each other already.

She silently applauded him, then took stock of the last person in the boat.

Herself.

Short, quiet, loyal, serious, smart, talented, pretty, brave, focused, ambitious, all these words had been used to describe her at one time or another. She was content wherever she was, didn't make new friends all that easily, and was constantly accompanied by books.

She had no idea what house she'd be put into.

Because that was the thing about her, Rose knew. She was very, very good at understanding other people, but at understanding herself. It was one of her shortcomings, she knew, but there was nothing exactly she could do about it.

She sigh, and turned her atterntion back to the castle now looming above them.

XXXXX

The line of first years was getting shorter and shorter. Rose watched them all get Sorted, playing a game with herself by trying to guess what house they would be sorted into. To her surprise, she got almost all of them correct.

The only person she missed was Malfoy. Scorpius. She'd heard her father's stories about that family, had stolen Victiore's history book years ago and read all about them, and had made up her mind.

That family was No Good.

She immediately, almost unthinkingly placed Malfoy into Slytherin.

Upon seeing his face, however, she almost reconsidered. He didn't look like the son of traitors; he merely looked like a scared little boy, alone in the big world for the first time, much like everyone else getting Sorted. Blond hair, a sharp, intelligent face with what could clearly become a mischievous glint deep in his green eyes, this boy could easily be considered handsome.

She could've liked him.

But then she remembered who he was.

And what his father and grandfather had done to her family.

And was promptly shocked when he was Sorted into Ravenclaw. Didn't the Sorting Hat take family history into account at all? Slightly stunned, she watched him stride over to sit across from Alice, who'd also been Sorted into Ravenclaw.

Exactly as Rose had predicted.

Soon, though, too soon, it was Rose's turn. She gulped, suddenly terrified, but kept her head high as she made her way up to the stool.

The Sorting Hat was placed on her head, and a little voice suddenly spoke, startling her.

"_Another_ Weasley? How many of you are there, really…Alright, down to business. Let's see, all the others have gone into Gryffindor. Shall I put you there, too? You'd do well, be with your family…but perhaps that is not the best thing for you. You're different from then, not quite the same, very similar to that boy up here earlier, actually. The one with the mind filled with regret and apprehension…but I digress. A much better fit for you would be RAVENCLAW!"

Rose was not quite sure what to make of this. She hadn't exactly known what to expect, yet at the same time she must have been subconsciously assuming she'd be Sorted into Gryffindor like the rest of her family.

This might take some adjusting.

Keeping her face calm and her gait smooth, Rose headed over to the Ravenclaw table, taking the only remaining seat.

Right next to Malfoy.

She studiously ignored him, taking time to get acquainted with her new housemates. She began looking around the table, trying to remember names to match with faces.

That boy there, that was Alfie Finnegan, she remembered, and the black-haired girl was Emily Macmillan. And of course, there was Allice, laughing, hair shining gold in the candle light…

And then Rose's gaze fell on the boy next to her.

How had she ended up sitting next to Malfoy?

Better question, how had he ended up sitting next to her? How had he been Sorted into the same house as her to begin with?

Well. She certainly wouldn't be expected to interact with him, would she? She wasn't about to be all friendly with the boy who's father had tried to kill her parents.

She realized she was still looking at him, studying him, and tried not to notice how nice-looking he really was. Just as she was about to look away, he spoke.

"Hello."

Her upbringing wouldn't allow her to simply ignore him, but she was not quite sure how to respond. "You're Scorpius Malfoy." Maybe he would understand, now, why she wouldn't be friends with him. After all, he must know she was a Weasley, right? Red hair, freckles, it must be obvious. And he must know what it means for her to be a Weasley. He must have heard of her family.

So he would get it, right?

"Yes, I am," came the calm response.

Did he not understand? They couldn't be friends. "I've heard of your family," she said, determined to discourage him. "My father told me to beat you on every test."

There. That should clear things up.

Rose turned then to Alice, one seat over and across the table, and they started squealing (as young girls are apt to do) about everything that had happened. The boys around them joined in, except for Malfoy, introducing themselves and saying where they were from, and pretty soon Rose knew most everyone in her year.

Malfoy was just as lively, she noticed, annoyed. He was open and engaging and friendly, and it seemed that everyone liked him already, and he liked everyone.

Except Rose.

Good. This was the way it should be, she knew.

She ignored the little nudge inside her that was scolding her for her behavior. He didn't belong here, she tried to justify to herself.

It didn't quite work.

It never would.

XXXX

A/N: Okay, still trying to figure out what to do with this story. Not sure how long I should make it. Do you guys think I should just skip to sometime in 7th year, or include exerpts from each year to show their changing relationship? Please help me decide!

Thanks,

~Star


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Okay, so this chapter is a little bit different from the others. I'm going to start incorporating both POVs into each chapter, switching between the two at least once. I still haven't quite decided how long I'm going to make this story, so we'll just see how it turns out, I guess.

Hope you like it! Please read and review!

~Star

XXXX

**Rose's POV**

Up in the dormitory later, none of the girls could get to sleep. They were too busy discussing everything, getting to know each other, conversation going from parents to families to hobbies and previous schools, Quidditch, subjects they were excited to learn, stories about Hogwarts, teachers, and all their other classmates. The girls were gossiped about, but when they got to the subject of boys they slowed down.

"I think we got the best of all the houses," remarked Ashley Kirk. Dark haired and pale skinned, Ashley was a half blood from Glasgow. Rose already loved her accent.

"I mean, did you see some of those Slytherins?" Emily Macmillan spoke up. "Not to mention the chubby little Hufflepuffs. "

"The Gryffindors aren't so bad, though," interjected Alice, giving Rose a look. It was not much of a secret between them that Rose had a bit of a crush on Alice's older brother Frank. He'd been Sorted into Gryffindor along with all their other friends and family, and, along with Fred and James, caused the most trouble of any of the Weasley children.

Rose gave a noncommittal nod, struggling to keep her inherited blush under control.

"Well, I definitely think the Ravenclaws are the best looking," maintained Ashley. "Really, who can go wrong with cute boys who aren't complete idiots? And they're in Ravenclaw, so we can be pretty certain they're intelligent."

"Some of them have potential," agreed Lucy Sullivan, "though I can't really appreciate it." Lucy had already told all of them that she was a lesbian, had been raised by a lesbian couple, and would "kick the ass of anyone who has a problem with that." Rose was not quite sure what to make of this girl; loud and headstrong and sassy, she was off-putting and almost offensive at first.

And this odd collection of girls would be rooming together for the better part of seven years.

This would be interesting, Rose thought to herself, though she was fairly certain they'd all turn out to be good friends. Fairly certain. Fairly.

"Rose," Alice said, pulling her attention back to the conversation. "What's up with you and Scorpius Malfoy? At dinner you were both talking to everyone except each other, evben though you were sitting right next to each other. Why?

Rose looked down, suddenly, inexplicably, ashamed. "Our families don't like each other," she muttered, more for the other girls' benefit than for Alice, since she knew Alice would see right through that excuse.

In all honesty, Rose didn't have a good reason she'd acted that way. Perhaps shock, perhaps a bit of residual anger, neither of which really justified her reaction to the boy. But it was too late to go back, now, she thought, ignoring the regretful twinge inside of her. She'd just ignore him, and maybe he'd go away.

Alice opened her mouth, ready to argue with Rose's logic. Thankfully, the conversation continued on before she could, lead by a comment from Ashley.

"Scorpius Malfoy. Now _there's_ a boy with some real…_potential_," she said with an appreciative grin, staring dreamily off into the distance.

Lucy whacked her with a pillow.

"Hey!" protested Ashley. "I mean, come on. You can't disagree with me."

"Oh, no," said Lucy matter-of-factly. "I agree completely. As much as I can, that is. I just wanted to start a pillow fight."

"Well, in that case…" Alice drawled, reaching for a pillow and thumping Rose with it just as she herself was hit over the head by Emily.

And the room dissolved into a blur of pillows and feathers and high-pitched screams (as girls of that age are apt to do.)

Later, they were all laying in their beds, about to go to sleep, and Rose brought up a point she had been thinking about earlier.

"You know, we're only eleven. Why were we talking about boys?"

Emily laughed from behind her curtains. "Well, it's never too early to start looking."

"Mark my words," said Ashley sleepily, "someday Scorpius will be the best looking boy in our year."

Rose couldn't quite disagree with the girl. She slipped off into sleep with his image frustratingly, unwaveringly in her mind's eye.

All night long she had good dreams.

XXXX

**Scorpius's POV**

Rose's silence was so much more impressive than his, Scorpius realized. It had only been two weeks that they'd been in class, but already he felt thoroughly and utterly ignored. And she clearly was completely unaffected by his disregard.

Time to adopt a new tactic, he decided. She wanted to ignore him? Well, he wouldn't let her. Starting right then, that morning, he would be as obnoxiously friendly as possible.

And if she were ever to warm up to him, begin enjoying his constant presence, then he would go back to ignoring her.

Serve her right.

So when he went down to breakfast, instead of sitting as far away from Rose as possible, he sought her out and sat down right next to her.

She had her Transfiguration text book open in front of her, propped up on a pitcher of pumpkin juice, lips moving soundlessly as she read. Her friends were conspicuously absent.

She gave no indication that she had even noticed he sat down next to her.

So he reached for the pumpkin juice and poured himself some, making her book fall flat on the table.

She looked at him, face almost expressionless. Just a hint of annoyance was present, giving him all the encouragement he needed.

He grinned at her. "Good morning, Rose Weasley. Did I ever tell you what a pretty name you have? It's as sweet as the flower itself. I think I'll call you Rosie."

"What do you want, Malfoy?"

He chuckled at her exasperated tone. "Just talking with one of my friends."

She frowned, almost imperceptibly. "We're not friends."

He grinned wider. "Sure, we are. In fact, I'd go so far as to say you're one of my best friends, ever. We treat each other with such respect, and get along so well. Particularly when we first met."

Her face tightened as she realized he was mocking her, and she turned away and went back to reading.

"Now, Rosie, don't get angry." Scorpius wondered how far he could push her before something happened.

A moment later, he got his answer.

"Why don't we sit together in class, Rosie? It's what best friends do. And then I'd get to spend even more time with you!" He slung his arm over her shoulders.

All of a sudden, she slammed her book shut and got up, shoving his arm off her and slinging her bag over her shoulder in place of it. She walked through the Great Hall at quite a pace, leaving without a word to anyone.

Scorpius smirked. Yes, this plan was going to work much better.

Rose would be sorry she ever snubbed him.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N**: Hi everyone! Couple things to say before this chapter. Firstly, I apologise for the last chapter. It kinda sucked. By which I mean it was crap. In my defense, I wrote it late at night and didn't edit it before posting, because I wanted to get it up right away, and also I've always been rubbish at introductions of new characters. Things should improve from here, I hope. Secondly, I'm sorry for taking so long to update! I've gotten sooo busy with school and all my extra-curriculars (gotta look good for the colleges) that I just haven't had a chance to write for a while. I'll try to get better about it, but no promises. Hope you'll all stick with me anyway :)

Oh, btw, this chapter is in 2nd year. I think I'm gonna go with one or maybe two chapters per year at this point, though that may very well change by 6th or 7th year. We'll see. Enjoy the story! I love reading your reviews, so leave some please? :)

~Star

XXXX

**Rose's POV**

"I can't believe it," Rose grumbled, setting her bag down on the table. "First day of school and we already have piles of homework. And, Scorpius is still here."

"Where else did you think he was going to go?" asked Alice, pulling her chair up to the table and spreading out a sheet of parchment. By this point she, and all of Rose's other roommates, had become well accustomed to Rose's complaints about the boy. Not a day went by without Scorpius bothering her in some way, so they'd all heard a lot about him.

And now it was starting again.

"I don't know," stated Rose grumpily. "Away?"

"Ha. Not likely."

"And why wouldn't it be," Rose muttered, flipping her book open with a smack and glaring at the first chapter.

Alice just looked at her. "Rose, you know perfectly well that Scorpius is the best in our year." At Rose's venomous glance, she continued hurriedly, "Well, _one_ of the best, anyway. And he never gets into trouble, either. He'd almost as perfect as you are. So, if anyone were to not come back to Hogwarts, it's certainly not him."

"Ugh, don't remind me. Now shut up, I have to concentrate," Rose ordered, dipping her quill into the bottle of ink and beginning to scrawl out an essay.

Later that night, after the essay was finished and all that was left to do was read the first chapter of _Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2_, Rose was curled up all alone in front of the common room fire. She tried to focus on the chapter, but it was late, and her mind kept wandering. It was where it was wandering to that disturbed her the most, though, not her lack of concentration.

No, she was getting distracted by Scorpius. _Malfoy,_ she thought. I have to call him Malfoy.

Because the truth was, he wasn't nearly as annoying as he pretended to be. Sometimes (she hated to admit) she almost liked having him with her. His comments could be witty and he never had a trouble following her train of thought or keeping up with the subjects in her conversations, unlike most others. He was the only one in their year who came close to being as bright as she was, and sometimes she wished she hadn't been so dismissive to him when they first met.

Not that she would ever tell anyone that.

Still, she sighed to herself, it would've been nice if they could've been friends.

XXXX

**Scorpius's POV**

He felt a little bit bad.

After all, Rose was such a nice girl. Why was he still causing her trouble?

Because he couldn't help it, that's why. It was the only way he could interact with her. Not that it was much of an interaction. She didn't choose to be with him, he just wouldn't go away.

And he could swear, sometimes she didn't even mind.

But no, that was dumb. He was the bane of her existence, the reason why she ate at odd hours now and made sure to rarely be alone. There was no way she might even consider being friends with him now, he'd wrecked that chance long ago.

Of course, she'd wrecked it before he had.

And that was the real reason this stupid game was still going on: revenge. He wanted to make her upset in any way that he could, because she had no right to look down on him because of his family. Hadn't he already proven dozens of times over that he was nothing like his father? But she continued to ignore him.

But maybe that was his fault, too. Maybe if he stopped being so annoying and started trying to actually be nice to her, they could be friends. It might work.

Ha. And Hagrid would suddenly hate spiders.

Scorpius sighed. It was stupid to hope, stupid to think that Rose might ever feel anything but annoyance or disgust for him.

Still, it would've been nice if they could've been friends.

XXXX

Several months later

**Rose's POV**

She took it back.

She didn't want to be friends with Scorpius Malfoy, couldn't hardly remember why she had ever wanted to be friends with the prat. He was good for nothing but aggravation and obnoxiousness and sticking his nose in where it wasn't ever, ever wanted.

Tears filled her eyes, and she wiped at them angrily. She shouldn't be crying over this!

How had he even found out about her crush? She thought it was a secret, had even only told Alice about it! How could he have possibly discovered that she liked Sebastian Wolfe?

And why, why would he go and tell Sebastian that! In the middle of the Great Hall at dinner, he'd laughed out loud and turned to look at her. "_Her_?" he said. "Studious little Rose Weasley, have a crush on me? Why would she go and do that? She knows I only like the beautiful girls. After all, have any of my girlfriends been anything less than stunning? Why would I ruin that record by going for _her_? Besides, she's two years younger than me anyway. A little second year! Why would I want that?"

And Scorpius had chuckled with him, the bastard. Her ears turned bright red as everyone turned to stare at her, and there was no way she could pretend she hadn't just heard the cutest fourth year in the school insulting her.

Damn that boy for telling him.

She'd never forgive him for that.

XXXX

**Scorpius's POV**

He felt more than a little bit bad. In fact, he felt downright awful.

He'd never meant to hurt Rose. Only to embarrass her a little bit, make a fool of her. Never to humiliate her in front of the entire school.

He should have known that Sebastian would react that way. The idiot had never cared for anyone but himself, and obviously had no qualms over hurting someone as fragile as Rose. And she was fragile, as delicate as the flower she was named after.

It surprised him, that he would think of her this way. Yes, she looked down on him. Yes, she had rejected his friendship for no good reason. But over the past year and a half, he had come to realize that she was actually quite nice to everyone (except him), taking care to be polite and considerate and friendly, helping people whenever she could, taking any hurt or criticism very seriously. And this was how he repaid her, by causing her to be disgraced in front of everyone? He should have helped her in return. If it had been anyone else, he would've never done this. But he just couldn't control himself when it came to her.

And that was when he decided he would leave her alone. Oh, he'd still compete with her for the best grades, still take every opportunity to annoy her, but never again would he meddle in her personal affairs. Never again would he cause her this sort of pain.

He clenched his hands into fists, willing himself not to punch Sebastian in the face.


End file.
